Death of Muhammad Ali
Khutbah: Death of Muhammad Ali
Arshad Gamiet.
Royal Holloway University of London 10th June, 2016
For the audio version of this khutbah, please click here: AG Death of Muhammad Alimp3
“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana’oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a’maalinaa. May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida. Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh”
All Praise is due to Alláh, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Alláh, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Alláh, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem! Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena ‘aamanut taqul-laaha, haqqa tuqaatihee wala tamu tun-na, il-la wa antum Muslimoon.”
O You who believe, – Be aware of Allah, with correct awareness, an awe-inspired awareness, and die not except as Muslims.
Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena ‘aamanut taqul-laaha, wa qooloo qawlan sadeedaa. Yuslih-lakum a’maalakum wa yaghfir lakum thunoobakum, wamay yu-til-laaha warasoolah, faqad faaza fawzan atheemaa.”
O You who believe, – Be aware of Allah, and speak a straightforward word. He will forgive your sins and repair your deeds. And whoever takes Allah and His Prophet as a guide, has already achieved a mighty victory.
In the opening verse of Sura An-Nisaa’, Allah says:
“O mankind! Show reverence towards your Guardian-Lord Who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate and from the two of them scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;― Be conscious of Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights) and (show reverence towards) the wombs (that bore you): for surely, Allah ever watches over you.”
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
In the past week, just about every newspaper, radio station and TV channel reported on the death of Muhammad Ali. You and I have seen the worldwide outpouring of love, praise and respect to him. Even those who are usually hostile to Muslims could not ignore this big story. He was a great sportsman and a great human being. Muhammad Ali wasn’t just an outstanding heavyweight boxer. He was a truly brave, sincere and courageous defender of human rights. He believed in social justice. He stood by his beliefs when it was difficult and even dangerous to do so. He refused to join the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War. He said, “Them Viet Cong aint done me nothin. No Viet Cong never call me ‘nigger’.” For his honesty, he was called a traitor, ‘un-American, un patriotic, and sent to prison. He lost his title, but he didn’t lose his dignity. He didn’t lose his Faith.
I want to focus our khutbah on this aspect of Muhammad Ali’s life. You know it’s very easy to speak the truth and defend your beliefs when you don’t have to suffer a great deal for it. But it’s quite a different matter when the price is so high and you have no idea of what the outcome will be. That’s real Faith with a capital “F”. That’s a test of your iman, your faith and trust in Allah. This is the example of Nabi Musa, a.s. when he stood up to Firawn. That’s why we hear the term: “For every Pharaoh, there is a Moses.” This is also the example of Nabi Muhammad sws, who stood up to the leaders of his tribe in Makka. In a well known Hadith, he advised us that
“The greatest jihad is to speak a word of truth in the court of an unjust ruler:”
The truly upright person must “Speak truth to Power.” This has many echoes in the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah. For this reason, Ayatul Birr is one of my favourite verses, in Sura Al Baqara:
“Laysal birra an tuwallu hujoo hakum qiblal mashriqi wal maghribi….”
“It is not righteous simply to turn your faces toward East or West. But it is righteous to believe in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him, for your relatives, for orphans, for the needy, for the traveller, for those who ask and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer and to practice regular charity. To fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah-aware.”
In one sweeping verse Allah describes the true Muttaqee, the person of Taqwa.
Muhammad Ali recognised these lessons of the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah. All human beings deserve the same dignity and respect. Black or white, American or Vietnamese, rich or poor, we are all Bani Adam, children of Adam. Read Sura Al Hujurat 49:13
“O mankind, I have created you from a single pair of a male and a female, then I made you into Nations and Tribes, so that you may know and respect one another, not that you should despise one another… Truly the most honoured of you are those who are best in good deeds.”
And who can forget that amazing last khutbah on Arafat, when our beloved Prophet sws declared that
“An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab; a non-Arab is not superior to an Arab. A white is not superior to a black and a black is not superior to a white. Every Muslim is the brother (and sister) to every other Muslim.”
Imagine, these words were spoken over 1,400 years ago. And yet, my dear sisters and brothers, we find so many examples today where Muslims fail to live up to this basic teaching of Islam. In so many Muslim countries, among so many communities and in so many families, we still judge each other by wealth, by skin colour, by social status and tribal affiliation. The jahililyyah is still alive and well in so many Muslim hearts. Let us be warned: In Sura Al-Ra’d v13:
“Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves (i.e. what is within their hearts).
If we have any hope of changing the sorry state of the Ummah today, we must begin by changing our desires and our prejudices.
Ramadan is a great opportunity for us to purify our hearts, and to bring about this transformation. We gather so much information, but this information must also lead to transformation. Ramadan offers us the opportunity to re-align our priorities in life. We have to re-calibrate our moral and ethical compass. We must fine-tune our spiritual satnav system and then follow the road map of the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah. This will help us to avoid all the mistakes and the cul-de-sacs of life, so that we can arrive safely at our journey’s end, which is none other than the Good Pleasure of Allah swt.
My dear sisters and brothers: let us pray to Allah, this Ramadan, to help us bring the changes in our hearts that are so desperately needed. O Allah, give us knowledge that leads to action. Give us information for transformation. O Allah, please lead us from where we are to where You want us to be!
“Alhamdu lillahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen. Was-salaatu was-salaamu alaa Khairil mursaleen. Muhammadin-nabeey-yil Ummiy-yee, wa-‘alaa aalihee, wasah-bihee, aj-ma’een. Ammaa ba’ad:
“Innalláha wa malaaikata yusallúna alan nabi. Yá ay yuhal latheena ámanu sallú alayhi wasalli mú tas leema. Allahumma salli alá Muhammad, wa ala áli Muhammad, kama salayta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali Ibrahim. Allahumma barik ala Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil ála meen, innaka hameedun majeed.”
(Second Khutbah):
“Soob’ hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem”
Glory to Allah! Praise to Allah! There is no power and no strength except from Allah!
My dear sisters and brothers,
When I think of Muhammad Ali, I think of this lovely poem by the American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly…
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky”
Muhammad Ali left us many memorable quotes. Many websites are now sharing his brilliant wit and wisdom. I want to share this one with you. He was fond of saying that “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” [repeat] . More than 800 years ago, the Persian poet, Saadi, wrote about the Way to earning Allah’s good pleasure: He said that “The way is not by prayer beads and holy robes, but service to others.”
There is a well known Hadith Qudsi, the Sacred Hadith where Allah speaks in the First Person through Prophet Muhammad. In this Hadith, Allah reminds us of the importance of caring for those who are sick and those who are poor:
“Allah the Exalted will say on the Day of Judgement: O son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit me. He will say: O my Lord, how can I visit you when you are the Lord of the worlds? Allah will say: Did you not know that my servant was sick and you did not visit him, and had you visited him you would have found me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food but you did not feed me. He will say: My Lord, how can I feed you when you are the Lord of the worlds? Allah will say: Did you not know that my servant asked you for food but you did not feed him, and had you fed him you would have found me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for drink but you did not provide for me. He will say: My Lord, how can I give you drink when you are the Lord of the worlds? Allah will say: My servant asked you for a drink but you did not provide for him, and had you given it to him you would have found me with him.…”
Dear brothers and sisters, when we take care of the poorest, weakest and most vulnerable people, we will find Allah there with them. This Hadith reminds me about another incident in Muhammad Ali’s life. The only time I’ve ever seen a TV journalist actually break down and cry was on the news a few days ago. He was describing Muhammad Ali’s visit to a hospital in South America. As Ali was leaving he found some very poor people waiting in the corridor. Ali pulled out his wallet and gave each one a $100 bill. In the 1960s, that was a lot of money. Ali thought nothing of it. He just gave the money and without waiting for thanks, he walked away. He never ignored the poor, the sick and the destitute. Ali must have known that he would find Allah there with them, just as the Hadith says.
Dear brothers and sisters, there are many so-called ‘great’ people throughout history. The Caesars and the Pharaohs, there statues and their achievements are now in museums and galleries around the world. But where are their souls? Where is their ruuh? The Holy Quran invites us to “travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who stood against Faith.” Allah promised the Pharaoh who defied Nabi Musa: “Today, I will preserve you in your body to be a lesson to future generations.” (Quran 10:90-91) His body is still preserved there, intact, in the Cairo Museum, after thousands of years. Allah always keeps his promises.
Muhammad Ali used his fame and his fortune to benefit others. He fearlessly stood by his faith. He was truly a man of iman and taqwa. Many people from many backgrounds came to Islam through their admiration of him. We pray and ask Allah to forgive his sins. He wasn’t a saint and he had his faults, just like we all have our faults. We ask Allah to forgive him and to fogive us also.
Right now we are in the first 10 days of Ramadan, the Days of Mercy. We ask Allah to have mercy on us and on our families. We ask Allah to have mercy on all the Muslims, and to instil mercy in our hearts also. One Hadith reminds us that if we have mercy on others here on the earth, then He Who is in Heaven will have mercy on us also.
The second 10 days of Ramadan will be the Days of Forgiveness, and the final 10 days will be the Days of Freedom from the Fire. I pray that Allah will spare us all in good health, to observe these blessed days. I pray that Allah will accept all our prayers, our fasting, our zakaat and our good works during this month and throughout the year. We should do everything only for Allah’s good pleasure, not to massage our fragile egos, not to enjoy praise and admiration from others.
We can all learn a few lessons from Muhammad Ali. To some was the greatest heavyweight boxing champion of the world. To others he was a witty and charismatic showman. To me he was all of these, but also a man who was proud of his religion, Islam. He stood up for justice and he was generous in fulfilling the needs of others.
You and I should ask ourselves: how generous are we? Are we more concerned with our own needs rather than the needs of others? Ramadan is a good time for us to reflect and reform. If we care for the needs of others first, Allah will provide for our needs, even more generously. We can be a little bit generous. But Allah is Al-Ghanee, the Most Generous. Right now, we must raise at least £2,100 for 7 Iraqi orphans we have been sponsoring for many years. There are many more orphans, from Afghanistan to Yemen and beyond. They desperately need our help. If we help them, we will find Allah there with them.
Remember Shaitan threatens you with poverty, but Allah promises you plenty. And Allah never breaks His promise. Let us dig deep into our pockets and help the orphans. Pay our Zakaat, Fitra and Sadaqah. Allah will repay this many times over like a grain of corn with 7 ears, each ear bearing 100 grains, as the Quran says. Allah’s generosity is limitless. Let us show Allah our love and gratitude to Him by caring for his most needy servants.
My dear brothers and sisters, Brothers and sisters, to conclude our khutbah:
InnaAllaha, Yamuru bil adel, wal ihsaan, wa eetaa-i zil qurba; wa yanha anil fuhshaa-i, wal munkari walbaghi; ya-idzukhum lallakum tathak-karoon. (Sura 16:90), Fadth kuroonee adth kurkum, wash kuroolee walaa tak furoon [2:152]. wala thikrul-Laahi akbar, Wal-Laahu ya’lamu maa tasna’oon.” [29:45].
“Surely Allah commands justice, good deeds and generosity to others and to relatives; and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, so that you may be reminded.” “and remember Me: I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not reject faith.” “and without doubt, Remembrance of Allah is the Greatest Thing in life, and Allah knows the deeds that you do.”
Ameen. Aqeemus salaah